Japan Chemical Plant Explosion: Radioactive Depleted Uranium on Site

The NHK TV channel reported that the blast killed one worker and injured 17, including nearby residents. The explosion occurred at Mitsui
Chemicals' Iwakuni-Ohtake facility in the Yamaguchi prefecture.

Posted below video of the post-explosion, on fire Iwakuni Otake Petrochemical Complex in Yamaguchi Prefecture in southwestern Japan after an
explosion rocked the plant at 2:20 am, April 22, 2012, killing one worker, injuring eleven. The cause of the explosion is being reported as lighting.
Also at the site, stored uranium for nuclear fuel and radioactive waste. The complex is reported as being used for the manufacture process of chemical
adhesives.

People of Japan my thoughts are with you. How much more can your nation take? I know that you are strong willed people and will get through all of
your disasters.

I'm not liking the fact of this stored uranium on site. There is almost nothing in the MSM about this new disaster.

In the Mitsubishi plant in Iwakuni city in which the fire explosion accident occurred, about 3400 drums filled with depleted uranium are stored.
Though the leakage of the depleted uranium has not been reported, it can not be determined because the safety has not been measured. In Iwakuni, it
was raining all day whike the accident. Dense fog advisory is out now. Toxic gas has been released to the environment because of the large scale of
the chemical factory fire. It shoud be wise for people living or sightseeng there to self-defense with mask and so on.

This has NOTHING to do with nuclear power. They were using depleted uranium in some industrial process yes but there was nothing generating nuclear
power involved in this accident.

The future of nuclear power is going to be the more efficient and safe Thorium breeder reactors. India is investing heavily and leading the way in
that technology. The American version of nuclear power are giant deadly behemoths that are only around because we can use them to make material for
nukes. It's a political roadblock, not a scientific one strictly, that is keeping us from safer, more efficient nuclear energy.

I went to a lecture at SMU about 5 years ago and the professor was very concerned about the nuclear waste. He talked about the need to store it
underground and inside of mountains, and said he was working diligently to make this possible in the near future.

Apparently, he was unsuccessful.

We're storing this crud at power plant sites, and calling that safe

It's so bloody hard to stick to a supposedly "sane" perspective that this negligence and incompetence is but a result of greed and not a nefarious
intent, sometimes.

The question I keep asking myself is, "are we truly all this bloody stupid" ??

What blew up is an adhesives factory. We have no information on what happened to the nuclear materials stored on site. It is quite possible they are
fine and it's also possible they are not. If they are fine then that makes this issue a pretty straightforward industrial accident and the fact there
is uranium on site really has no bearing on it. If the opposite is true THEN we have a nuclear issue

What blew up is an adhesives factory. We have no information on what happened to the nuclear materials stored on site. It is quite possible they are
fine and it's also possible they are not.

Agree.

If they are fine then that makes this issue a pretty straightforward industrial accident and the fact there is uranium on site really has no
bearing on it. If the opposite is true THEN we have a nuclear issue

The fact that depleted uranium is stored in an accident-prone area is very relevant, period.

I don't think things are okay when they are set up for disaster, if it's yet to happen.

I find your link very interesting. Thorium does seem the way to go, though I would like to do a bit more research and find more sources which back up
the claims made in the article.

Posted below video of the post-explosion, on fire Iwakuni Otake Petrochemical Complex in Yamaguchi Prefecture in southwestern Japan after an
explosion rocked the plant at 2:20 am, April 22, 2012, killing one worker, injuring eleven. The cause of the explosion is being reported as lighting.
Also at the site, stored uranium for nuclear fuel and radioactive waste. The complex is reported as being used for the manufacture process of chemical
adhesives.

I'm not liking the fact of this stored uranium on site. There is almost nothing in the MSM about this new disaster.

Since no nuclear fuel, spent or otherwise is required in the production of chemical adhesives, why I wonder is there nuclear fuel and spent nuclear
material on the site? Seems a bit strange to store something that could be aerosolized in a chemical plant that could one day explode or catch on
fire.

Originally posted by bobs_uruncle
Since no nuclear fuel, spent or otherwise is required in the production of chemical adhesives, why I wonder is there nuclear fuel and spent nuclear
material on the site? Seems a bit strange to store something that could be aerosolized in a chemical plant that could one day explode or catch on
fire.

Cheers - Dave

I think it's pretty common for governments to "utilize" the storage facilities and handling expertise of private companies on industrial sites for
these things.

It might be a chemical site that deals primarily in adhesives, but it would also make a great cover for dealing with other nasty little secrets in
their hazardous materials category too. It's cheaper and more effective than building another installation for the sole purpose of dealing with this
material.

Also has to be pointed out that this is a big site. Just because there is this material handled by the company does not mean that it was contained in
an affected area.

How much more of this are we going to take!? We are killing ourselves with this Nuclear stuff when Free Energy is right around the corner? Its about
time we stood up and stopped this outrage. How many more people have to suffer? 1,000,000? 2,000,000?

Here is a great tool that demonstrates we're just seeing the beginning of quake disasters around the globe. research.dlindquist.com...

What I believe this incident represents is really just the tip of the iceberg should more quakes follow while they are trying to recover. I hope they
realize that the disaster isn't finished happening but just beginning.

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